A Chance Encounter
by onenightgirl95
Summary: Rhett comes home early one afternoon and finds Scarlett in a compromising position.


A Chance Encounter

Rhett had not been home for supper since the evening his wife banished him from their bedroom. He was only coming home for supper this evening for the sake of the children. Yes, the children were absolutely his reason for returning to his monstrosity of a home. It was only but four in the afternoon, a little early to come home for supper, but why not be a little early? It would give him a chance to redeem his reputation with the children before supper, of course. The children, always the children, never Scarlett herself.

This would have been a perfectly reasonable excuse for coming home early had he actually carried out this task rather than finding himself climbing the stairs and taking the turn for his wife's bedroom. Sure, he had a few drinks at Belle's this afternoon but he was hardly affected by the alcohol.

Or so he told himself.

He gripped the handle to her bedroom door and stood that way for a moment. What was he doing? What was the point in entering this room? Did he need to have a reason? She was his wife and he could go into her bedroom anytime he damn well pleased. He turned the door knob and stepped over the threshold into the bedroom that they once shared. He scanned the room once in search for Scarlett but she was nowhere to be seen. His eyes stopped at the rakishly huge four poster bed.

Not even a week ago Rhett had been laying in that bed with Scarlett, holding her in the middle of the night after he had woken her from a nightmare.

"_Rhett, you are so kind." He had gotten used to these simple affectionate gestures that she bestowed upon him. He decided that maybe she didn't know how to compliment him further. He pulled her closer to his chest then released her to lay back onto her pillow. It had become custom for him to wake her, soothe her, and then fall back asleep for a few hours. However, this night was to be different. "Oh Rhett! Do hold me." _

_His eyebrows went up on his forehead as he stared down at his wife in disbelief. He was ready to mock her, make fun of her fear. But after a quick examination of her face, he bit back his barb and moved closer to her. She leaned her head on his broad chest and they laid that way until she fell back asleep. He took her hair and wrapped it round his throat and drifted off with her. _

The sound of water splashing on the floor brought Rhett out of his reverie. Water? His head swiveled in the direction of the bathroom that was connected to the bedroom. Scarlett must be bathing before supper. The door to the bathroom was left ajar. Most likely in an attempt to make it easier for Mammy to hear Scarlett when she was ready to get out and be dried off.

For a reason even unbeknownst to him, he found himself walking over to the door to the bathroom. He pushed the door and it moved silently on its hinges until it was completely open. If the alcohol had been coursing through his bloodstream earlier, what he saw in the bathroom sobered him in an instant.

Yes, he had expected to see Scarlett in the tub but not in this way. He almost felt the need to turn around and walk out. Almost.

Directly across from where he stood, Scarlett was laying in the tub with her head leaned back, all but a few tendrils of hair pulled atop her head to prevent it from getting wet. Her eyes were closed and her lips were slightly parted; her bottom lip being held between her teeth. One hand gripped the edge of the tub while the other disappeared under the water. Under the water? What was that hand doing under the water? Her body was rocking ever so slightly, making the water lap in the tub, sometimes spilling over the edge and sometimes revealing two lily-white breasts to his eyes every few seconds. She clearly hadn't heard his entrance.

Rhett stood there, leaning on the doorframe for support. Never in his life would he have imagined his wife being caught in such a compromising position. He didn't even know that she realized she had this option, that she could bring herself pleasure. He also didn't know how he felt about her taking this upon herself when she was married to him, a man of the world. He had been told on more than one occasion that he was quite the contender and in that he took pride.

He decided not to think too much of it and act on this rare situation instead. He saw her body rocking harder now and he could tell that she was biting her lip quite hard. It was this moment in which Rhett decided to clear his throat.

Scarlett's eyes flew open and her hand that had been under the water flew out to grip the other edge of the tub.

"Rhett! You scared…. I was just… Oh," Her face flushed an alluring shade of red and she couldn't quite put an entire sentence together. She diverted her eyes from him.

He continued to lean on the doorframe and a satisfied smirk drew itself upon his face. He was going to have a little fun with this.

"My dear, would you care to enlighten me about what was just going on? You almost seemed distressed, I had to make known my presence, in the case that you might have needed my assistance."

She threw a glance his way that he was unable to read and then her face went white at the realization of what was happening.

"Rhett Butler, why do you find yourself in my room in the middle of the day? Don't act like I'm in the wrong here. You're never home this early, much less standing in my bathroom doorway!"

He didn't have any reason to be standing where he was so he tried to divert the situation from what he was doing to what she was doing.

"Ah, so you are able to form a sentence. In my experience, sometimes it can get quite difficult to conjure up a sentence after, eh... what you were just doing." His smirk widened and he showed his white teeth.

"You have no idea what I was doing! I'm certainly not going to argue with you while I'm sitting in the tub. Go call for Mammy to help me get dressed."

She was on the defensive and he knew that she was well aware that he knew exactly what she had been doing in that tub. He pushed himself off the doorframe and slowly made his way over to where Scarlett laid in the tub. He sat on the edge where her hand had been gripping just moments earlier.

He leaned close to her face and whispered, "My pet, I am many things but ignorant is not one of them. You and I both know exactly what you were just doing. I was simply unaware that you knew that option was available." He ignored her request to retrieve Mammy. Her face flushed red again.

He moved his face back as she made an effort to lift herself from the tub. However, she realized that in doing so she would be risking her modesty so she lowered herself back under the water. He searched her face but all he found was frustration. Frustration that she found herself in this situation, but also frustration of another kind. This frustration was an indirect response to his presence, preventing her from finishing what she had set out to do.

"Mrs. Butler, please forgive me for so rudely interrupting you," he said with mock humility as his hand came to rest over his heart. "Please do continue." He kept himself firmly seated on the edge of the tub and Scarlett's face went a deeper shade of red as she realized what he was insinuating.

"Rhett, I really need to get out, I've already been here for quite a while."

"Surely a few more minutes won't do any harm." He smiled down at her with no mocking humor in his eyes. When he opened her bedroom door a mere ten minutes ago he had no idea what he was doing or what he planned on doing when he found Scarlett. He had certainly found her and he was now determined to see this through to the end. To her end, at least.

"Rhett, really, I can't. Not with you… not with you here and… watching." She shook her head and cast her eyes down.

"Scarlett, please. Just pretend I'm not here." She looked up at him at his use of that magic word. He didn't ask for much, but when he did, she didn't know how to refuse him.

He couldn't quite believe his eyes when he saw her close hers and rest her head against the back of the tub. Her hand slipped back under the water and her lips parted again.

What an interesting afternoon this was turning out to be.

He heard her breathing hitch and saw her body start to rock again. Like before, her breasts were now being revealed to him every few seconds. As a result of being in such close proximity this time around, he felt his trousers grow tight in his awkward position on the edge of the tub but he didn't dare move.

He could see her biting down hard on her lip, no doubt stifling a moan. Her body began to shake and her teeth bit down impossibly hard onto her lip and then she released it with a soft whisper of, "Rhett."

It was in that moment that he realized exactly what he had wanted from her upon entering her room earlier that afternoon. Had Ashley really taken such a stronghold on her heart that she had to banish her own husband from his marital bed? Was Ashley really who she dreamed about? Who she wished was in his place in their bed instead of him?

Her eyelids fluttered open and he saw green eyes staring back up at him. Eyes that held something he had never seen before. "I miss you," she said.

He had no idea how he had gotten here, how his marriage had been turned upside down and then one chance encounter had suddenly turned it right again. But he didn't care.

"I miss you too," he said and leaned down to kiss her.


End file.
